About Alexander Kleibrink

Alexander Kleibrink is a public policy graduate from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He served as policy officer at the German Federal Ministry of Finance working on the financial aspects of EU external relations. Currently, he is a Research Fellow at the Hertie School of Governance. His research interests cover EU governance and external relations, decentralisation reforms, political economy of transition economies and anti-corruption policies.

We all have the feeling that the EU is distancing itself more and more from its citizens. Not only the recent spread of the ‘occupy’ movement to EU countries reflects this, but also prior demonstrations in Athens, Madrid, Reykjavik and other cities highlight the disenchantment citizens feel. This is not only due to the actual […]

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Production networks in many sectors have become increasingly fragmented. Cutting labour costs by lowering pay, increasing work intensity and/or shifting flexibility costs to workers are just some of the motivations for outsourcing. But it can also be used to circumvent employee representation and collective bargaining systems within companies, and labour market regulations in general. Though such intentions may not drive the bulk of outsourcing decisions, any change in company boundaries is likely to impact employment, working conditions and industrial relations in the value chain.

This book focuses on the dynamics of outsourcing in Europe from the perspective of employees. In particular, it considers one insufficiently studied aspect: the impact of outsourcing on working conditions and employment relations in companies. The book also collects lessons learned from the efforts of employees and trade unions to shape outsourcing decisions, processes and their impact on employment and working conditions.

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Europe has begun to emerge from the prolonged slump caused by the global financial crisis in 2008 and exacerbated by the euro zone single-currency crisis in 2010–2011. In the last year, aggregate employment levels have risen faster than at any time since 2008. This, the fourth annual European Jobs Monitor report, looks in detail at shifts in the employment structure at Member State and aggregate EU level over 2011–2014.

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This study assesses the ECB's crisis management performance and potential for crisis resolution. The study investigates the institutional and functional constraints that delineate the ECB's scope for policy action under crisis conditions and how the ECB has actually used its leeway since 2007; or might do so in the future. The study finds that the ECB may well stand out positively when compared to other important euro or national authorities involved in managing the euro crisis but that in general the bank did "too little, too late" to prevent the euro area from slipping into recession and protracted stagnation, ending up in its current predicament.

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Change Through Convergence?
Reform Measures Of European Welfare States In Comparison

The six welfare states under examination – Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom – changed incrementally between 1998 and 2014. These changes led, overall, to the gradual transformation of the welfare states in these countries. In the three policy areas under examination – labour market policy, family policy and pensions policy – the dominant focus is on the labour market and recommodification. This is topped off, besides the self-responsibility already mentioned, increasingly by elements of privatisation and marketisation. In the past two decades there has thus been a substantial restructuring of welfare state social security systems with the predominant aim of encouraging labour market participation.

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The Sustainable Shift

The latest edition of the Journal for a Progressive Economy is the first to cover issues around sustainability, and features articles from French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, leading climate activist Bill McKibben and First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, all discussing one of the biggest challenges facing our society; the shift to a sustainable economy.